Breaking Form
by TheWrittenJourney
Summary: Edward and Alphonse are trying to make their way back home. Harry and friends thought their days of adventure and mayhem were over. Rated T for language, will be yaoi later on, so rating may change. Disregards HP epilogue, post movie FMA. Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: NOT MY CHARACTERS! Just the result of my mind running rampant during my bus ride home.**

The wind howled, scattering leaves across the path. Ed shivered, huddling deeper into his overcoat, before glancing across at his brother. Al never paused, just continued walking, as though unaffected by the cold. Ed could see his lips tremble, and knew Al was trying to keep his teeth from chattering. He smiled softly, before wrapping his scarf snugly around Al's neck.

Al blinked at him in surprise. "Aren't you cold, brother?" he asked, even as he pulled the scarf tighter, grateful for the added warmth.

Ed shrugged uncomfortably. "Apparently not as cold as my little brother."

Al smiled wickedly. "It wasn't that long ago that I was the bigger of the two."

"JUST WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT EVERYONE MISTOOK HIM FOR THE YOUNGER BROTHER?!!!"

Al laughed delightedly, dancing out of his brother's reach as Ed took a swing at him. Ed chased him down the London street, to the shock of the Sunday morning shoppers, who looked askance at the rowdy boys. Ed followed his brother back to their flat, laughing as well, and the two young men settled down for a late morning brunch.

It had been nearly a year since their arrival in this world through the gate, and the two brothers had enjoyed every minute of freedom afforded to them. After the disaster of Shamballa, Ed had been the only survivor from the group of scientist looking to build the rocket ship. Though surely the sale of the plans would have afforded them a life of luxury for the rest of the boys lives, Ed had felt that the others had played a larger role, and had left the plans in the hands of their families.

Since then, the two boys had traveled to London, and set up a life for themselves. Both had found work at the London Public Library, thanks to their significant literary knowledge (despite most of it being irrelevant due to the fact that they weren't in Amestris anymore) and the fact that they had spent more time in libraries throughout their lives than most sane people and as such just plain knew how they worked. It wasn't a glamorous job, and certainly didn't pay well at all, but it was enough for Ed and Al to get by on. More importantly, it afforded them the opportunity to research a way home, since they now knew that alchemy could be performed here, somehow.

"Are you gonna eat that last piece of bacon?" Al mumbled around a mouth full of eggs.

Jerked out of his own thoughts, Ed looked blankly at his brother.

"Bacon?" Al prompted, reaching out towards Ed's plate.

"MINE!" realizing his brother's intent, Ed quickly grabbed the bacon and shoved in his mouth, giving Al his absolute best 'I'll-kill-you-before-I'll-ever-give-up-my-bacon' glare.

Al's eyes widened in surprise, before he laughed at his brother's antics. "Brother, you have egg on you face!" Al made a valiant attempt to stay in his chair, before finally giving up and toppling to the floor.

Ed snorted at his younger brother, now sitting on the kitchen floor. "Some people just never grow up."

"Oh, you're one to talk, brother!" Al exclaimed, heaving himself up into his chair.

"Shut up and eat, we're going to be late." Ed got up from the table, taking his dishes over to the sink before heading into the sitting room where he had previously abandoned his shoes and overcoat.

Glancing at the clock, Al moaned, before shoving his toast into his mouth and following his brother out the door.

They arrived at the library shortly before noon. Ed walked straight up to the door, confidence written in every step, while Al hung back, glancing nervously around him.

"I don't think this is such a good idea, brother."

Ed already had the door opened, and was moving inside. "You want this too, Al," he reminded his younger brother gently.

Al hesitated for a moment in the doorway, before straightening his shoulders and heading inside.

The library was silent on a Sunday, with its hours only being from Monday through Saturday. Sunday was meant to be a day off for the staff, and the building was abandoned. Al stuck close to his brother as they made their way through the empty, dark building.

The boys moved through the stacks with the precision of someone who spent hours amongst them daily. They made their way down to the basement, following a path laid out in their minds, as they didn't dare turn on the lights. Without a word, Ed led the way into a small storage room that had previously been unused.

Closing the door tightly behind him, Al breathed a sigh of relief as the lights flickered to life, before surveying the room before him. Stacks of books leaned against the walls precariously, threatening to topple over at a moment's notice. Sheets of paper were tacked to the walls, covered in notes and symbols. In the middle of the floor, chalked right onto the concrete, was an intricate circle, nearly completed.

"It'll be done after today," remarked Ed, following his brother's line of vision.

Al looked up at his brother, before nodding his head in response. After a year of research, today was the day they'd finally return to Amestris. Or maybe die trying. That was a price that Al was scared of, but both brothers were still willing to pay.

"Are you ready?" asked Al.

"Yeah," replied Ed softly, already distracted by the calculations running through his head. "I've spent years here trying to find a way to use alchemy, but couldn't figure out how to do it. I can't believe that we finally found the answer! To think that it was something so _obvious_ and yet so_ absurd._" Ed shook his head in disbelief, before grabbing the cable coming out of the wall and running it through to the center of the circle.

"It is pretty funny to think that alchemy here is actually run on electricity," Al giggled.

Ed looked fondly at his brother, before stepping into the circle. "Are you ready?"

In answer, Al followed him into the circle. Ed pulled a pocket knife out of his jacket and pressed it gently to his thumb, before passing it onto Al. A sign so that the gate would recognize them as out of place, and hopefully send them back where they belong. They did not have a sacrifice prepared for the gate, as they reasoned that the gate would simply try to right the disturbance and put everything back into its natural order. Secretly, Ed didn't think that this was the case, but had already determined that he would do whatever it took to send his brother back home in one piece, no matter the personal cost.

Ed looked up at his brother, and grinned quickly. Hr quickly dropped down to his knees, with Al not even a step behind, and in unison, both pressed their hands to the center of the circle, and everything WENT TO SHIT! (**A/N: ok, so maybe that was a little bit dramatic**) In reality, once they activated the circle, it opened up to reveal the gate. They were pulled through, as though the gate could read their intentions, and fell through to the other side.

Ed stood up shakily, brushing off his pants. "Well that was easy."

"Brother, look!" Al's voice was weak and strained.

Ed looked up sharply, narrowing his eyes at his brother. _Did he sacrifice something?! The gate never even asked me! What did it take?!_ Ed's eyes passed quickly over his brother, but couldn't find anything obvious. It was then that he noticed that Al's eyes were not on him, but instead surveying the area around them. His face was drawn and pale. Ed looked around himself. _Oh shit-_\

"We're not in Amestris," whispered Al. _Then where the hell were they?_

**A/N: note bad for an introduction if I do say so myself! Keeping in mind that I was half asleep on a bus when I wrote this. Also, I don't have a Beta for this story yet, and if anyone wants the job, feel free to sign right on up. I think my FMA verse needs work, so preferably someone who knows a lot about the series ^,^ And the more you review, the more time I will find out of my busy school life to update, so please R&R!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews! I wasn't sure if I was actually going to take this story anywhere, but when I saw that people had added it to their alerts, I was motivated, so here is the second chapter. I will probably slow down after this, because of school and stuff, but I'll try for at least once a week!**

**Disclaimer: NOT MY CHARACTERS! Just the result of my mind running rampant during my bus ride to school.**

**Recap:**

"We're not in Amestris," whispered Al. _Then where the hell were they?_

**Chapter 2:**

Harry sat below the burnt remains of the Whomping Willow, staring thoughtfully at the lake before him. It had been a few months now since the final battle, and Hogwarts was changed forever. Structurally, the building and grounds were intact, repaired magically over the summer holidays in preparation for the return of the students. The spirit of the castle, however, would never be the same. Lively paintings were silenced, and the ghosts rarely showed themselves in the halls anymore. Even Peeves didn't torment anyone the way he used to. In a way, it felt like the magic that made Hogwarts what it was had left, been leeched out by the magical battle held on its grounds.

There were other changes, of course, such as the Whomping Willow which had been destroyed in the crossfire. There were charred patches of grass that had been hit by dark curses and refused to grow green again. The Forbidden Forest seemed darker these days than ever before, after many magical creatures had sought shelter from the battle within it. Even the Giant Squid never ventured forth to the lake surface anymore.

"I wonder if it will ever be the same again?" Harry mused aloud.

"What will be the same?"

Startled, Harry drug himself out of his thoughts and turned to the speaker. "Draco..."

"Hermione asked me to see if you were coming for breakfast? It's going to be over soon." Draco spoke softly, as if unsure.

The Wizarding World had been thrown into chaos following the announcement of Voldemort's death. For the final year previous to his death, Voldemort had infiltrated every level of the ministry, and through that had the whole of Wizarding Britain in his tight-fisted grip. Following his death, and the deaths or arrests of his many followers, there were few people left who were able or willing to pick up the pieces. Many people, such as Draco Malfoy, slipped through the cracks.

Draco's parents were arrested and convicted of Death Eater activity, though they received a lightened sentence due to their aid in saving Harry Potter, who then saved the world. Draco was never arrested or convicted, with the struggling new ministry deciding they had higher priorities than a youth who didn't even want to be a Death Eater in the first place. With nowhere left to go, Draco returned to Hogwarts, where the new Headmistress McGonnegall was willing to offer him aid and refuge, at least until he could complete his magical education.

There were few people living at Hogwarts now, though at first there had been many. Most had located what was left of their families and made a home elsewhere. All that was left now were teachers, what was left of the Order of the Phoenix, and Harry Potter himself.

Draco watched the boy sitting before him, as if awaiting his reply. This tenuous relationship between himself and Harry, Hermione, and Ron had begun over the summer, as the three worked together to help set Hogwarts back to rights. An unspoken truce between them had grown into a polite acquaintance, and was beginning to look more and more like a friendship every day. Draco was always worried that it was going to blow up in his face.

Seemingly unaware of Draco's scrutiny, Harry smiled lightly. "Yeah, sure, let's go."

Harry stood up and began walking quickly back towards the castle, leaving Draco to trail in his wake. They arrived in the Great Hall with little fuss, unless you count Hermione running over towards them looking frazzled. Draco eyed hair with some trepidation.

"Did you forget to brush your hair this morning?" Harry asked, smiling brightly at his friend as though he didn't just try to insult her.

"You shouldn't just run off like that without telling anyone Harry," she admonished, glaring balefully in his direction. "Thank you for fetching him Draco," she added, with a sweet smile.

"It's just breakfast, and I didn't go very far," whined Harry, as Hermione proceeded to drag him over to a table.

"You haven't been eating properly lately!" she scolded. "People are starting to worry that you're depressed."

"Why would I be depressed? He-Who-Was-A-Big-Pain-In-My-Ass is finally gone!" Harry exclaimed, even while obediently shovelling pancakes into his mouth.

"Yes, _I_ know that, but not everybody realizes how happy you are about it. All you do is sit outside and stare off into space."

Harry sighed, putting down his fork. "I know that I've been acting a little weird lately, but something seems off with Hogwarts, and I just can't seem to figure out what it is. Why hasn't it used its magic to repair itself yet, like it always did before? It doesn't make any sense!"

"Harry, I think you're overestimating what the castle is capable of doing," Hermione said gently, "besides, all the repairs are finished now."

"No, he's right," Draco cut in, "the castle was always able to repair any damage before, even if caused by dark magic, but this time we had to do the repairs for it. It's as if it isn't even trying."

"That's what I think, too!" cried Harry excitedly. "It feels as if it's waiting for something _big_ to happen."

Draco and Harry both looked at Hermione, as though expecting something to happen. She stared right back at them, unperturbed.

"What?" she asked, then blinked, "Right, this is where I'm supposed to have a brilliantly theory!"

Draco and Harry both sweat-dropped appropriately at this, but were unsurprised at her next statement: "Let's go to the library and research it!"

"I don't think that's going to be necessary this time," replied Draco, staring off towards the center of the room.

Harry frowned, then turned to follow Draco's line of vision. In the center of the floor, a strange circle filled with symbols was drawn with light. "What is that?"

"I don't know," muttered Hermione, her forehead wrinkled with thought.

A brilliant flash filled the room, partially blinding all of the witches and wizards present, before fading away. Harry blinked, trying to clear his vision as he tried to discern the dark shapes that had appeared where the circle had been. As his vision slowly set to rights, his eyes widened at the sight before him.

"I guess we know what that something big was..."

**A/N: Wow, that was super fun to write! Please review, and feel free to share ideas. I thrive on them ^-^ Can you guess what's going to happen next? =P**


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